Graham and Harris (2005) recommend that young students with handwriting problems should be provided with supplemental instruction.
Four-step sequence that focuses on writing lowercase letters accurately and fluently.
Alphabet warm-up. The students practice naming, matching, and sequencing alphabet letters
Alphabet practice. The students practice writing unit letters in isolation.
Alphabet rockets. The students repeatedly write a sentence containing unit letters during a 3-minute time frame, and the students record the number of letters written.
Alphabet fun. The teacher models how to make a unit letter in a funny way.
Writing Instruction
The acronym PENS helps the student remember the steps to sentence writing:
P—Pick a sentence type and formula.
E—Explore words to fit the formula.
N—Note the words.
S—Search for verbs and subjects, and check.
The use of a first-letter mnemonic cues the student how to complete the writing task independently:
P—Pick
L—List
E—Evaluate
A—Activate
S—Supply
E—End and evaluate
To cue the student to detect four kinds of common errors, the teacher can introduce COPS questions to be used as an error-monitoring strategy:
C—Have I capitalized the first word and proper nouns?
O—How is the overall appearance? (Look at spacing, legibility, indention of paragraphs, neatness, and complete sentences.)
P—Have I put in commas, semicolons, and end punctuation?
S—Have I spelled all the words correctly?
Writing Instruction for Middle School Students
DARE is a strategy to help students compose appropriate opinion papers, while SPACE assists students in creating narratives. DARE is a first-letter mnemonic:
D—Develop a position statement.
A—Add supporting arguments.
R—Report and refute counter arguments.
E—End with a strong conclusion.
SPACE, which also is a first letter-mnemonic, prompts students to remember the elements necessary in a fictional narrative:
S—Setting elements
P—Problems
A—Actions
C—Consequences
E—Emotions
Teaching theme writing through the use of the acronym TOWER provides a structured approach:
T—Think (e.g., about content such as title, major subtopics, and details)
O—Organize it (i.e., topics and details).
W—Write a draft.
E—Evaluate it (i.e., look for errors by using COPS).
R—Refine it.
Writing Instruction
Strategy using the acronym HOW to improve the appearance of written work and remind the student how the paper should look:
Diagnostic
Students with Handwriting Problems
Graham and Harris (2005) recommend that young students with handwriting problems should be provided with supplemental instruction.
Four-step sequence that focuses on writing lowercase letters accurately and fluently.
Alphabet warm-up. The students practice naming, matching, and sequencing alphabet letters
Alphabet practice. The students practice writing unit letters in isolation.
Alphabet rockets. The students repeatedly write a sentence containing unit letters during a 3-minute time frame, and the students record the number of letters written.
Alphabet fun. The teacher models how to make a unit letter in a funny way.
Writing Instruction
The acronym PENS helps the student remember the steps to sentence writing:
P—Pick a sentence type and formula.
E—Explore words to fit the formula.
N—Note the words.
S—Search for verbs and subjects, and check.
The use of a first-letter mnemonic cues the student how to complete the writing task independently:
P—Pick
L—List
E—Evaluate
A—Activate
S—Supply
E—End and evaluate
To cue the student to detect four kinds of common errors, the teacher can introduce COPS questions to be used as an error-monitoring strategy:
C—Have I capitalized the first word and proper nouns?
O—How is the overall appearance? (Look at spacing, legibility, indention of paragraphs, neatness, and complete sentences.)
P—Have I put in commas, semicolons, and end punctuation?
S—Have I spelled all the words correctly?
Writing Instruction for Middle School Students
DARE is a strategy to help students compose appropriate opinion papers, while SPACE assists students in creating narratives. DARE is a first-letter mnemonic:
D—Develop a position statement.
A—Add supporting arguments.
R—Report and refute counter arguments.
E—End with a strong conclusion.
SPACE, which also is a first letter-mnemonic, prompts students to remember the elements necessary in a fictional narrative:
S—Setting elements
P—Problems
A—Actions
C—Consequences
E—Emotions
Teaching theme writing through the use of the acronym TOWER provides a structured approach:
T—Think (e.g., about content such as title, major subtopics, and details)
O—Organize it (i.e., topics and details).
W—Write a draft.
E—Evaluate it (i.e., look for errors by using COPS).
R—Refine it.
Writing Instruction
Strategy using the acronym HOW to improve the appearance of written work and remind the student how the paper should look:
H—Heading
O—Organized
W—Written neatly